When the task is to find a match, but then you start falling yourself for your customer

Synopsis

A Regency fairytale retelling with a grumpy sunshine romance

To make her mark…
She must find his match!

It’s a tale as old as time: Lucas Worthing, a wealthy Viscount, is reluctantly obliged to find a high-society wife. Especially with a deathbed promise to his mother to fulfill! But the odds are stacked against battle-scarred Lucas when the gossip sheets persist in calling him the Beast of Barnett House. Enter the Cupid’s Arrow Agency…

Matchmaking for reclusive Lucas won’t be easy, but plucky Ophelia Granger isn’t deterred by his imposing castle or gruff demeanor. If she can pull this off, her business stands a chance of success. Yet there’s nothing harder than finding a bride for the man you’re falling for yourself!

My review

Growing up as orphan hasn’t been easy for Ophelia Granger. But with her self found sisters, things are changing for the better. Ophelia is even ready now to open her own agency, after seeing how her matchmaking skills have brought happiness to the people around her. Now she just needs to find the first customer for her Cupid’s Arrow Agency, which is easier said than done. Until after a theft, Viscount Lucas Worthing comes to her rescue. Lucas is reluctant to get married, as his battle scars and his reclusiveness have gossipers let him name the Beast of Barnett. But a promise to his mother made on her deathbed, is making Lucas searching for a wife, not out of love, but out of convenience. And why not help out a new acquaintance with her new business and hire her with his search for a wife. Ophelia could not be more thrilled with her new task and is adamant to show society that Lucas is anything but a Beast… But the more time Ophelia and Lucas spend together, the more Ophelia realizes that she is falling for Lucas. So how can she find the perfect match for Lucas, while she wants to be that person herself, even if Lucas does not want to marry out of love at all…

No matter what era we are living in, aren’t we all searching our perfect match in love? And haven’t we all struggled or are still struggling with actually finding that person? So why would finding love in the Regency era be any different?

Oooh riiiiight, there is something like society, expectations, and let’s be honest, often marriages aren’t made out of love, but rather out of convenience… And when a Viscount is literally and figuratively scarred by his past, things only get more complicated…

Right from the start, I felt truly proud of Ophelia. Having read the other book of the series, I knew where Ophelia and her sisters (yes, they are truly sisters, even if it’s not by blood) came from and how hard they have worked to be where they are now in their lives.

And I was extra proud of Ophelia, as she is ready to open her own business, something that isn’t so usual for women in Regency. To be even more in awe of her, Ophelia opens a matchmaking business, wanting to find love and happiness for everyone. Ophelia made some great matches already and wanting to use her ‘talent’ to make other people fall in love, why not?

It shows what a kind character Ophelia is, wanting others to find love and happiness, even if she hasn’t found it herself yet. And while she is patient for her own prince to appear, she is also eager to see who it will be.

But Ophelia is also a strong woman, because the more the story evolves, and the more she interacts with a sometimes very stubborn Lucas, she stands her ground and even knows how to ‘play’ him, to get him more outside and increase the possibilities of finding the match he is looking for. I could see how her business would become a real success, as Ophelia has found the perfect blend of kindness and determination 😊.

However, her very first client, Viscount Lucas Worthing, for sure is a challenge!

On one hand, I could understand how he isn’t looking for love, broken by it before, but also how he is afraid that his looks won’t ever make someone love him for the person he is. Also he didn’t have a great example in his life. And to make things worse, his guilt also makes him believe that he doesn’t deserve love, or happiness.

A guilt that shows also what a great character he in fact is, and how wrong his nickname of Beast of Barnett is. Because while he wasn’t at fault at all at what happened in the past, he does everything what he can to at least alleviate the pain and grief that he believes he caused. I am sure that not everyone would act the same!

Yet this kind side of his character is something that not many people see. Not only because he is rather reclusive, but all the gossip about his persona isn’t helping either. Yet it is something that I wanted, needed, everyone to see, to understand that scars don’t define a person.

On the other hand, I wanted to slap Lucas, because no matter what, everyone deserves to find the perfect match, to marry out of love and not just because you find someone to be content with the rest of your life.

And yes, I wanted, needed Ophelia to see the real Lucas as soon as possible, because it is obvious how the feelings, emotions will change throughout the story. And the quicker things start to get interesting, the better 😊.

It was very interesting to read how Ophelia and Lucas are working together to find Lucas’s perfect match in a very limited time. And yes, I laughed reading how Ophelia just sees trough Lucas’s attempts to just stay inside. And I found it sweet too reading how Ophelia just gets his trepidation of doing that, but still is able to let him do what she tell him to do.

Slowly, (even too slow for me 😊), we see how Lucas is able to let his guard down, and how Ophelia sees the real Lucas. And those moments were just the best! Of course there is still the issue that Lucas is not looking for love, and it would be strange if Ophelia would end up with her client, wouldn’t it?

I absolutely loved reading this story, about love, strength, self-acceptance and courage to love again. Of course there are hurdles, but that is also in real life, isn’t it? Jeanine shows us with this story that love is universal, accepting and wonderful. And that once you open your heart to it, and to that special person, it can change everything in the best of ways.

Giveaway time!

Enter for the chance to win a signed print copy of Beauty and the Brooding Viscount (book 2 in the Regency Fairytales series) and a beautiful custom necklace that matches the cover made by @gioiellibijitcreations! 

*Terms and Conditions –INT entries welcome.  Please enter using the Gleam box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Gleam from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

https://gleam.io/xFIM7/giveaway-escape-into-a-fairytale-summer-open-int